Getty Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens.
Freddie Kitchens understands he’s not the prototypical head coach. The Cleveland Browns skipper doesn’t hide from that.
With his thick Alabama drawl and penchant for speaking what’s on his mind, Kitchens leads his team in a unique way, never scared to speak his mind. He’s much more likely to breakout in song than deliver a statement in Belichekian coach speak.
Flip on a Browns press conference and Kitchens will surely drop a few “Freddie-isms.” At minicamp, he told reporters that he wanted to win the lottery in response to Duke Johnson Jr.’s trade request and coined the mantra of Browns fans in his introductory presser, saying, “if you don’t wear Orange and Brown, you don’t matter.”
“Everything I am about as a coach is building relationships,” Kitchens said after being introduced as the Browns head coach. “I learned a long time ago that this is a people business. People tend to forget what goes on to get you to the field. Between the meeting rooms, the practice field and ultimately to the game field, there has to be conversation. It has to be real-life conversation, because a lot of times, football is not everyone’s life all of the time.”
Freddie Kitchens Can Relate to Baker Mayfield
GettyCleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield
Kitchens understands what it’s like to not fit into a certain mold of what people expect, which is why he feels he has a lot in common with his quarterback, Baker Mayfield.
When the Heisman winner was being targeted with the No. 1 overall pick of the Browns, criticisms ranged from his height to his rambunctious demeanor on the field. Kitchens revealed in a Mina Kimes ESPN piece that he was stunned after getting to know Mayfield.
“My perception was a lot like everybody’s — that he was kind of an outlandish, fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kinda guy,” Kitchens said. “What I found was somebody totally different.
“At the core of everything is the fact that he’s always been told no: You can’t do this. We’re looking for someone else. You’re not this. I think we have that in common.”
Kitchen’s Meteoric Rise to Cleveland Browns Head Coach
The rise of Kitchens from unknown running backs coach to the head coach of the most hyped Browns team in decades is one of the most interesting stories in the NFL. But the rapid advancement hasn’t shifted Kitchens personality. Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry said as much at minicamp.
“I don’t think he even realizes he’s the head coach,” Landry said. “He’s still got the same personality, the same demeanor.”
Kitchens acknowledged when he was hired that he wasn’t the popular choice, but he showed enough during his stint as the team’s offensive coordinator to indicate to the franchise that he was ready for his first head coaching gig.
“I don’t sound like you, or most coaches, so the perception of me is different,” he told Kimes. “You’ve got a bunch of gurus out there that tell you what a QB should look like and what a head coach should look like. We don’t look like anybody’s version of those people.”
If Kitchens and Baker can cook up some victories and a playoff appearance for the long-struggling Browns’ fanbase that hasn’t seen the postseason since 2002, none of that will matter.
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